Letchworth Garden City is the world’s first Garden City, created as a solution to the squalor and poverty of urban life in Britain in the late 19th Century.
Based on the ideas of Ebenezer Howard as published in his book of 1898 Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Reform, Letchworth Garden City inspired town planning across the globe.
First Garden City Ltd began construction in 1903. The company appointed architects Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin to design the masterplan for the new community. Central to the Company’s ethos was a commitment to repatriate all profits back into the Estate
In 1962, an Act of Parliament transferred the assets, role and responsibilities of First Garden City Ltd to a public sector organisation - Letchworth Garden City Corporation. Thirty three years later, a further Act of Parliament wound up the Corporation passing the £56 million Estate to Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation.
Today, the Foundation works to maintain and enhance the world’s first Garden City, managing our local property portfolio to generate income, which we then invest back into the community and landscape of Letchworth Garden City.
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